St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-08-27
PERSONAL TITLES.
BILL CODY's GREAT sPLURGE IN
LONDON SOCIETY.

BILL CODI'S GREAT SPLt RGE IN
LONDON SOCIETY.
Since Receiving Royal Approval He Now
Has Honorable Prefxed to His Name
Some of the Differences Between Ameri-
can and English Ideas on Equality.
Bill Cody, since his Wild West Show has
been honored with royal approval in Eng
land, is respectfully styled the Hon. VIM.
F. Cody by the London papers, owing to
the fact that he was once member or
the Nebraska Legislature. This moves
ponderous Tory organ, ST. James Gazette,
to the publication of an erudite article
showing that titles of honor are not rec
ognized by the laws of this country, and
it regards the abundance OF titles IN
America as evidence Of apopular craving
too strong for the constitution TO re-
strain. The great prevalence OF colonels'
especially, it says, presents "a difficulty
that must have occurred to every English
man who has travelled much IN the
States"
An Englishman trained to regard a
title as very serious and important
thing must indeed be COMPOUNDED by the
abundance of tunnels" "majahs" and
"jedges" in this country. John Phoenix
in one of his stories tells how on once
setting sail from San Francisco he felt
lonesome, because he alone OF the pas
sengers had no friends down to the
wharf to see him off, and to conceal the
fact he waved his hand as the boat
started and called, "Good-bye, colonel,
whereupon every man on the wharf SAID,
| Good bye, old fellow; take care of your
self" Had our English friend been
bystander he might have thought,
Good 'evens, what a big army this
blarsted country must ave-. but such
titles in this country are well under
stood to be mere conventions of speech,
signifying nothing but the ordinary
civiites of life. They are the lubricants
of casual intercourse. To address
stranger as Mister" is too formal for
this land of republican equality. Where
the sense of fraternity is strong and the
common bearing is familiar, as in the lar
Western country, "Pardner" is accepted
as a proper initial salutation in making
friendly approach; but colonel or judge
or captain is everywhere regarded as an
appropriate title for use in chance meet
ings between free and equal citizens.
This is free country and titles are open
! to all A colored society in Baltimore,
Md, has for it's chief officer "a Most
Royal King" who has his Grand Right
and Left hand Supporters. The polite
and deferental clerk who waits on you
in store may be the Most Sublime and
Right Worthy Ruler of his beneficial
society, and for aught you can tell the
man who drives the wagon that brings
your purchases home is a Most Exalted
| and Puissant Autocrat when in his lodge.
But there the matter ends; however
! grand the titles employed by the
Combined Brotherhood of Mutual
IIoneyfuglers at their meetings, nobody
feels bit the better or worse for having
them or lacking them. The really funny
thing is that in England people actually
do attach great Importance to these tags to
names and whether man is Mr.. Smith
or the Duke of Smythe makes great
difference in his sense of self-importance.
In England every one looks up to some
one and looks down upon some other
one, and titles are revered as marking
the gradatons of society.
There is nothing in the historical
origin of titles to commend them
to respect. They date from the decay
of the Roman empire, when slaves and
.lenials obtained the imperial purple and
tried to soolhe their uneasy sense OF
mean extraction by grandiloquent titles.
| Applications that Caesar or Augustus
would have scorned were adopted by
their weak and ignoble successors; and
as the empire became weak and con-
lemptible titles grew in magniticence
Europe, in falling heir to Roman civlllza,
ton, adopted the system of titles, and
has ever since retained it, Republican
dignity has made them joke and COM
moEplace in this country.